“For your pool?”
Another pause.
“How do you know?”
Marcus's stomach tightened.
Helen lived three blocks away.
Retired school principal.
Sixty-eight.
Her husband had died the previous year.
Marcus asked:
“What happened?”
Helen explained.
Six months earlier, the HOA claimed her backyard drainage was creating mosquito risk.
Blue Mesa entered while her gate was unlocked for a gardener.
They pumped water from a catch basin onto part of her deck and into the shallow end of her pool.
Not as much as Marcus received.
Enough to dirty it.
Diane then recommended Blue Mesa's “preferred remediation partner” to clean the pool.
Helen paid $7,200.
“Why didn't you complain?”
“I did.”
“To who?”
“Diane.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“What did she say?”
“That emergency health actions weren't appealable.”
“Board?”
“She told me it was already reviewed.”
“Did you check?”
“I had just lost Frank.”
Her voice softened.
“I didn't have the energy.”
Marcus understood.
That was the moment the story changed.
His pool was not first.
Maybe not second.
He contacted Robert Chen.
Silver Palms board treasurer.
Robert was sixty-one.
Former accountant.
Quiet.
Had disagreed with Diane publicly twice.
Marcus sent only one question:
Was there a board vote authorizing emergency remediation at Lot 42?
Robert replied four minutes later.
No. What happened?
Marcus sent photographs.
Robert called immediately.
“What the hell am I looking at?”
“Ask Diane.”
“I’m asking you.”
Marcus explained.
Silence.
Then Robert said:
“We didn't approve that.”
“I know.”
“She told Blue Mesa we did?”
“Work order says HOA account.”
Robert exhaled.
“Do not post this.”
“I haven't.”
“Good.”
“Why?”
“Because I want the records before people start deleting things.”
Marcus smiled grimly.
Robert was an accountant.
Of course.
“Can you access invoices?”
“Yes.”
“Pull all Blue Mesa invoices for two years.”
Pause.
“What are you thinking?”
“Helen Ward.”
“What about her?”
Marcus told him.
Robert became silent.
Then:
“I’ll call you back.”
He did.
Two hours later.
Voice different.
“There are eleven emergency remediation invoices.”
“How many board-approved?”
“Two.”
Marcus sat down.
“What are the other nine?”
“President authorization.”
“Diane?”
“Yes.”
“Amounts?”
“Between thirty-one hundred and eighty-nine hundred.”
“Total?”
“Fifty-two thousand.”
Marcus stared.
“Paid by HOA?”
“Some.”
“Some billed back to homeowners.”
“How many?”
“Six.”
Marcus closed his eyes.
“Blue Mesa clean afterward?”
Robert paused.
“Not directly.”
“Who?”
“Sun Valley Pool Restoration.”
Marcus wrote the name.
“Relationship?”
“Don't know.”
“Find out.”
Robert said:
“You sound like my auditor.”
“Take it as a compliment.”
Sun Valley Pool Restoration belonged to Brandon Keller.
Twenty-six.
Friend of Diane's son Tyler Mercer.
Marcus discovered that in under ten minutes.